Be INFORMED

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Senator McCain Says Failure Will Turn Americans Against the War

   Well, it would appear that Senator John McCain has lost his sense of direction and his mind, both at the same time.

AP

"I don't know what the other options are because if we fail here I think it's going to be very difficult to maintain the support of the American people," he said. "And when the American people don't support a war ... then we aren't able to maintain a foreign endeavor."

       Apparently, Mr. McCain has been out of the planet for some time and hasn't watched nor read the latest news, like back to November 7, 2006.

   I guess that he hasn't heard of that new instrument that they call the latest polls, either.

   63% oppose sending more troops to Iraq while 35% approve of it.

   Call the eye doctor and get McCain an appointment ASAP!

   Can you believe it? This senile old man thinks that he will be the next president when he can't even live in reality. Maybe I should change that statement, Bush made it in.

 

 

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Clinton Says Pull Troops Out Of Iraq Within 90 Days

 Reuters

"Now it's time to say the redeployment should start in 90 days or the Congress will revoke authorization for this war," the New York senator said in a video on her campaign Web site, repeating a point included in a bill she introduced on Friday.

 

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    It's a good thing that  Mrs. Clinton  is finally beginning to open her mouth a bit but I think that it's a little late for that as was the attempt to open debate on the escalation in the Senate today, which failed by four votes.

  So now I'll guess that both the House and the Senate will continue to fuss over another version of the non-bindiing resolution that will never be agreed on between the both of them so long as the Senate Republicans want language inserted saying that funding will not be cut for the escalation.

    I can't wait for the list of who voted ' no ' on Saturday because I am going to run those sorry bastards through the mud at every chance that I get! That goes for those from both sides of the fence in the Senate today and in the House vote on Friday,

   It is time for our new employees ( House, Senate ) to do the will of their employers ( Citizens of the United States of America ). It is time now to tell Mr. Bush to go to hell and to deny him the $100 billion that he seeks for more of this mess in Iraq!

   It is time for everyone in Washington, D.C. to do as they were told to do back on November 7, 2006. What part of that do you not understand?

 

Senate Blocks Iraq War Resolution Debate

  I'll have a bit to say about this in a little while after I have the whole story.

AP

WASHINGTON - The Senate gridlocked on the
Iraq war in a sharply worded showdown on Saturday as Republicans foiled a Democratic attempt to rebuke President Bush over his deployment of 21,500 additional combat troops.

The vote was 56-34. That was four short of the 60 needed to advance the measure, which is identical to a nonbinding resolution that Democrats pushed through the House on Friday.

"The Senate, on behalf of the American people, must make it clear to the commander in chief that he no longer has a rubber stamp in Iraq," said Majority Leader Harry Reid  D-Nev., in the final moments before the vote.

Republicans blasted him and the Democratic leadership for refusing to allow a vote on an alternative that ruled out any reduction in money for troops in the field.

"A vote in support of the troops that is silent on the question of funds is an attempt to have it both ways," said Sen. Mitch McConnell (news, bio, voting record) of Kentucky, the GOP leader. "So we are asking for an honest and open debate."

 

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All Peter Pan Bought Since May 2006 Should Be Discarded

   Well now! the Peter Pan peanut butter salmonella case has expanded to all Peter Pan varieties bought since May of 2006!

 

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Reuters

Fri Feb 16,2007

All Peter Pan peanut butter bought since May 2006 should be discarded, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday in a statement broadening its warning about salmonella-contaminated peanut butter.

The FDA said the suspect Great Value peanut butter also could be identified by the 2111 code.

The CDC has identified the strain of bacteria as Salmonella Tennessee, one of many strains of salmonella bacteria.

They can cause nausea, diarrhea and other ill effects, but usually the sickness clears up on its own in less than a week.

"Although Great Value peanut butter with the specified product code has not been linked by CDC to the cases of Salmonella Tennessee infection, the product is manufactured in the same plant as Peter Pan peanut butter and, thus, is believed to be at similar risk of contamination," the FDA said in a statement.

"Great Value peanut butter made by manufacturers other than ConAgra is not affected."

The FDA said it persuaded ConAgra to recall the peanut butter on Wednesday, shortly after the CDC confirmed it was investigating the outbreak.

 

John McCain: Resolution Vote Is Meaningless

   John McCain is in Chicago seeking cash and votes for his presidential nomination for a shot at the presidency in 2008.

   He is missing the Senate vote Saturday because resolution critical of President Bush's troop surge is " a meaningless exercise fraught with partisanship."

McCain's spokesman said he is a staunch supporter of sending more troops to Iraq. His presence or absence would have no impact on the outcome of the vote.   Chicago Sun-Times

  John McCain, you are a total asshole and do not deserve to be in office anymore much less a president of any nation seeing as how you have sold your soul to the devil just to be a leader somewhere!

   It may be a great thing that McCain will not be in D.C. for the Senate vote as that is one less for the GOP side. I suspect that at his old age, a six day work week is really taxing it a bit.

 

 

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Bank of America Facing Boycott Over Credit Card

            

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  Charlotte Observer 02/17/2007

Coalition says bank should be charged with `aiding and abetting' illegal immigrants

RICK ROTHACKER  rrothacker@charlotteobserver.com

A coalition of groups that advocate for tighter U.S. borders has launched a boycott against Bank of America Corp. because of a new credit card that could be used by illegal immigrants.

The National Illegal Immigration Boycott Coalition is asking people to close their accounts and sign a petition at www.bankofamericaboycott.com. Organizer William Gheen, president of Raleigh-based Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, also argues bank officials should face federal charges for "aiding and abetting" illegal immigrants.

"Nobody is above the law, including Bank of America," he said.

The boycott is the latest backlash against a credit card the Charlotte bank is testing in Los Angeles that requires little or no credit history. Customers must have a checking account in good standing with the bank, but they don't necessarily need a Social Security number to sign up.

Two Republican members of the House Financial Services Committee also told Fox News on Friday they would ask for hearings on the program, citing concerns about promoting illegal immigration and identity theft.

Bank of America spokeswoman Betsy Weinberger said the card was not "specifically developed or marketed for illegal immigrants," adding the initiative allows customers to build a credit history with a "leading bank."

Eager to find new customers among the nation's burgeoning ranks of Hispanic immigrants, U.S. banks are increasingly offering checking accounts, money transfer services and mortgages that don't require a Social Security number. Bank of America is the first major credit card company to step into the arena.

Bank of America Facing Boycott Over Credit Card

            

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  Charlotte Observer 02/17/2007

Coalition says bank should be charged with `aiding and abetting' illegal immigrants

RICK ROTHACKER  rrothacker@charlotteobserver.com

A coalition of groups that advocate for tighter U.S. borders has launched a boycott against Bank of America Corp. because of a new credit card that could be used by illegal immigrants.

The National Illegal Immigration Boycott Coalition is asking people to close their accounts and sign a petition at www.bankofamericaboycott.com. Organizer William Gheen, president of Raleigh-based Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, also argues bank officials should face federal charges for "aiding and abetting" illegal immigrants.

"Nobody is above the law, including Bank of America," he said.

The boycott is the latest backlash against a credit card the Charlotte bank is testing in Los Angeles that requires little or no credit history. Customers must have a checking account in good standing with the bank, but they don't necessarily need a Social Security number to sign up.

Two Republican members of the House Financial Services Committee also told Fox News on Friday they would ask for hearings on the program, citing concerns about promoting illegal immigration and identity theft.

Bank of America spokeswoman Betsy Weinberger said the card was not "specifically developed or marketed for illegal immigrants," adding the initiative allows customers to build a credit history with a "leading bank."

Eager to find new customers among the nation's burgeoning ranks of Hispanic immigrants, U.S. banks are increasingly offering checking accounts, money transfer services and mortgages that don't require a Social Security number. Bank of America is the first major credit card company to step into the arena.

D-M sergeant sent to prison for child porn

    Tucson Citizen

A.J. FLICK
Tucson Citizen 2.17.2007

A Davis-Monthan Air Force sergeant was sentenced today to 6 1/2 years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to two child pornography charges.

U.S. District Court Judge John M. Roll sentenced Ernest David Craighead, 35, to prison for attempted transportation and possession of child pornography, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

In July 2004, the FBI traced two pornographic images to Craighead's on-base residence, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. A search later found 16 images of child pornography on the hard drive of Craighead's computer and about 15 images and three movies of child pornography on three discs.

Once Craighead is released from prison, he will be on supervised release for the rest of his life and must register as a sex offender, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

 

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Poll: What One Word Best Describes George Bush

    Here's an interesting poll for you from People Press that you may find interesting.   You can find many more questions and answers at the above link.

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Q.2F1
Please tell me what one word best describes your impression of George W. Bush. Tell me just the ONE best word that describes him.

RESPONSE).

February 2007*
34 Incompetent
25 Arrogant
25 Honest
19 Good
19 Idiot
13 Integrity
13 Leader
11 Strong
11 Stupid
10 Ignorant
8 Determined
8 Fair
7 Ass
7 Selfish
6 Confused
6 Dishonest
6 Persistent
6 President
6 Sincere
6 Trying
5 Committed
5 Great
5 Hypocrite
5 Liar
5 Steadfast
5 Stubborn
5 Trustworthy
4 Compassionate
4 Conservative
4 Courage
4 Irresponsible
4 Unconfident
4 Tough

* The numbers listed represent the number of respondents who offered each response; the numbers are not percentages.

 

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Saturday Morning News Kickstart

A suicide bomber  knocked off 15 people, judge included, when he blew himself up inside a courtroom over in Pakistan.

    The police say that they arrested three others who where planning the same thing.                          More News Below

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    In Northern Iraq,  another car bomber drove into a packed market not to long after a car exploded on Saturday, killing nine and wounding another 60.

                    * * * *

    That Russian expert that happens to be Secretary of State, Condi Rice, made a surprise visit to Baghdad on Saturday and had a little meeting with both American and Iraqi officials. Probably delivering the latest talking points memo's to the P.M. and others from the Bush Crime Family.

                    * * * *

    20-year-old Pfc. Branden C. Cummings of Titusville, Florida was killed Wednesday in a roadside bombing in Baquba, Iraq, so says the U.S. military. Another young life gone because of a presidents refusal to admit that he made a mistake and was wrong. What I think it comes down to is that Bush just cannot admit that once again, as in his whole life, he failed.

    Counting Pfc. Cummings death, the entire toll for U.S. troops now stands at 3,124 since Bush's mission was accomplished.

 

Senate Takes Up Iraq Troop Surge

   It's Saturday and an interesting one it will be as the Senate takes up the Iraq troop escalation. That's right! Our public officials are working today and we will get to see if the Republicans are going to support Mr. Bush and his lunatic fringe ideas or are they going to support the American taxpayers who say no more troops and no more war?

   So far as a few Republicans are concerned this is a non-issue.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC.)    "I will do everything in my power to ensure the House resolution dies an inglorious death in the Senate."

   As noted before by a few of the GOP members,"If we debate the surge, we lose."

    You Repugnicans may want to remember what happened to more than a few of your other members back in November. I believe they are now unemployed and you will be also come 2008!

    Go ahead. Make my day!

 

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House Of Representatives Quotes During Iraq War Debate

  Just for your reading pleasure, here is some text from the House of Representatives debating the Iraq war resolution.

   Note that only two Republicans ( Howard Cole, Ric Keller ) did not use the  " will hurt the moral of our troops and embolden the enemy " line of lies.

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FromBBC

REPUBLICAN JOHN BOEHNER

This battle is the most visible part of a global war against terrorists.

If we leave, they will follow us home. It's that simple.

DEMOCRATIC SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE NANCY PELOSI

A vote of disapproval will set the stage for additional Iraq legislation, which will be coming to the House floor...

Thousands of new troops... will apparently not have the armour and equipment they need to perform the mission and reduce the likelihood of casualties.

REPUBLICAN KAY GRANGER

The Balints [whose son was killed in Iraq in December] asked me to bring a message back to Washington. They said to tell you to stay firm because we need to finish the job in Iraq.

DEMOCRAT JOHN CONYERS

We must end the senseless deaths of service members like Marine Tarryl Hill [who was killed in Iraq last week].

I do not want to see one more promising life like his extinguished on the altar of this administration's arrogance.

REPUBLICAN MARSHA BLACKBURN

[The resolution] sends a message of no confidence and no support to our troops in the field, weakening their morale while encouraging and emboldening the enemy.

DEMOCRAT JOHN MURTHA

This country needs a dramatic change of course in Iraq and it is the responsibility of this Congress to consummate that change.

REPUBLICAN SAM JOHNSON

The enemy wants our men and women in uniform to think their Congress doesn't care about them.

We must learn from our mistakes. We cannot leave a job undone like we left in Korea, like we left in Vietnam, like we left in Somalia.

DEMOCRAT JAMES CLYBURN

The victory we seek is earned through the restoration of America's role as peacemaker, not warmonger.

REPUBLICAN HOWARD COLE

I am personally very high on President Bush, but on the matter of troop escalation, I am not in agreement.

I insist that we do not maintain an eternal presence in Iraq, if for no other reason than the cost to the taxpayers, which has been astronomically unbelievable.

DEMOCRAT RAHM EMMANUEL

The time has passed for accepting this administration's assurances at face value. The human cost of its repeated assurances is too great.

REPUBLICAN STEVE CHABOT

There are serious consequences to our national security if we fail in Iraq.

Cutting off funding, limiting military options or pushing for immediate withdrawal will only make our future more dangerous. It is time to stop the politics, stop the games, stop the finger-pointing and do what is best for America.

DEMOCRAT DAVID OBEY

We are told if we oppose the president's intensification of the war, we are giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

Well, I, for one, am tired of those who've been consistently wrong about this war lecturing those of us who've been right.

REPUBLICAN RIC KELLER

Interjecting more young American troops into the cross-hairs of an Iraqi civil war is simply not the right approach.

DEMOCRAT PATRICK MURPHY

We stand together to tell this administration that we are against the escalation, and to say with one voice that Congress will no longer be a blank cheque to the president's failed policies.

REPUBLICAN GEOFF DAVIS

This non-binding resolution serves no purpose other than pacifying the Democrats' political base and lowering morale in our military.

 

House Makes Wage Hike Talks Possible With Tax Cuts

   So, in order for the hourly workers in this country to get a federal wage increase, the House had to approve some small business tax cuts in the amount of $1.8 billion over a ten year period. The vote was 360-45.

   Now all that those low wage earners have to wait for is for the Senate and the House to finish their bickering over the tax cuts which in the Senate version come to $8.3 billion.

   Some Senate Republican officials are predicting that the final version will be closer to the Congress version when all is said and done.

    It will still be another two to three weeks before the bullshit is done.

 

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Friday, February 16, 2007

Technical Difficulties

  Server problems and a few other things are preventing me from posting at my regular pace so I will be down for at least 4 hours.

  I am sorry.

house Passes non-Binding Resolution 246-182

   The House passed the non-binding resolution by a vote of 246-182.

   From Daily Kos

House Says No Escalation, Senate GOP Will Fight America

By mcjoan
on Senate. H.Con.Res 63

The House passed the anti-escalation, non-binding resolution, House Concurrent Resolution 63, by a vote of 246-182.

Here's the text of the resolution:

Disapproving of the decision of the President announced on January 10, 2007, to deploy more than 20,000 additional United States combat troops to Iraq.

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That--

(1) Congress and the American people will continue to support and protect the members of the United States Armed Forces who are serving or who have served bravely and honorably in Iraq; and

(2) Congress disapproves of the decision of President George W. Bush announced on January 10, 2007, to deploy more than 20,000 additional United States combat troops to Iraq.

On to the Senate for tomorrow's vote. Four GOP Senators (Senators Smith, Warner, Snowe, and Collins) have said they will back the resolution. McCain will apparently not be voting, Lieberman is unlikely to, as he doesn't work on Saturdays. And of course, we have Lindsey Graham:

"I will do everything in my power to ensure the House resolution dies an inglorious death in the Senate," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

Why? Because Republicans admit, "If we debate the surge, we lose."

Why? Because America opposes the escalation.

 

New Surface to Air Threat Made in China?

 From IraqSlogger

U.S. Blames Iran For New Weapons, But Slogger Looks Elsewhere

By ROBERT Y. PELTON, IBRAHIM MUSTAFA 02/11/2007 0

Although today is judgement day for Iran, arms experts are looking a little deeper into some of the assumptions that will be made.

The recent rash of helicopter shoot downs in Iraq seems to point towards either bad luck, bad tactics or better weapons used by the insurgents. What is clear is that the United States has focused on Iran as an instigator, supporter and trainer of Shia militias. But once again looking closer reveals that the helo shoot downs were in Sunni neighborhoods not Shia areas. The claims of shoot downs have come from Sunni organizations like the Feb 7 from the Islamic State in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iraqi insurgent organizations. Beirut via Syria would be a likely entry point for Russian made made weapons that can be used by Sunnis. Iran has supplied the shia Hizbullah in Beirut with surface to air missiles against Israel. Weapons could also be flown in via Kurdistan, smuggled northward from Kuwait and just about anywhere on Iraq's porous borders.

Secondly a new Surface to Air missile has already been brought into battle against Israel when Hizbullah claimed a shoot down of an Israeli helicopter using a "Waad" or "Promise" named man-portable air-defence system (MANPAD).

Despite the Arabic name, the Waad is actually Chinese in origin, not Iranian. So sourcing the weapons is not as easy as pointing to Iran. Just as the Americans sold captured Egyptian weapons supplied by the Soviets to the muhahadeen in Afghanistan to attack the Russians, the Iranians need only supply the cash through intermediaries to remove any direct link. Beirut, the home of Hizbullah is one of the world's largest arms markets. So is Dubai, Amman and other middle eastern centers.

in the 80's it is not unusual for point of origin to be obscured. The tradition continues today since The Waad is more than likely the QW-2 "Qianwei" or "Vanguard" and is made by and marketed by a large Chinese government owned consortium.   Entire Article

 

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Saturday Vote Upsetting Senator's Plans

      It would seem that a few Senators are upset because they are expected to be in Washington on Saturday for a scheduled vote on the Iraq war. Some of them are angry because they are having to rearrange their schedules when they had trips planned to some of the early primary states and such other matters having to do with running for president in 2008.

   Senator Reid said that he hopes that everyone be there for the vote because it is an important vote. A few of the candidates people are saying that even if the candidate does not show up, it is a non- issue.

   I think that the voters in this country do not share that point of view and I'll bet that if there are some no- shows. most will be Republicans. Any takers?

   A few that have other commitments are planing on flying back for the vote and then taking care of their business. One of them would be Senator Clinton and Senator Biden said that he will just scrap his plans.

   The Washington Times for more.

 

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McCain Getting Clubbed In His State Of Arizona

      More good news if you just happen to be one of those individuals who tracks John McCain's bid for the presidency.

      McCain ( 2nd coming of Bush 0 has flip-flopped so many times now that even his home base in Arizona doesn't care for him to much these days.

   Chris Matthews said recently that McCain was the one candidate who "deserves the presidency."  I guess that some of the power wielders in Arizona no longer think so, which is a good thing as McCain has turned into nothing but a hypocrite and into one of the Bush faithful once again.

   I guess that all of the respect that McCain had from many people, Democrats included, didn't mean to much to him as he has abandoned any of the true character that he use to have.

  So how did John McCain lose his grip in Arizona?   You will see after the ad.

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The Nation

 February 15, 2007 (March 5, 2007 issue)

McCain Mutiny

Max Blumenthal

This defeat was the handiwork of his presumed actual political base--a ragtag band of local conservative activists led by a 65-year-old retired IBM middle manager named Rob Haney.

Who is Rob Haney? He is the Republican state committeeman in Arizona's District 11, McCain's home district. In the past, Haney and his fellow committee members would meet from time to time to review their annual budget, vote on bylaws and pass resolutions. If anyone represents Arizona's Republican Party, advancing the causes of faith, family and freedom, it is the folks from District 11. Yet their importance, let alone their existence, seemed to matter little to their state's famous and ambitious senior senator.

All that changed when Haney organized a revolt that hardly needed encouragement. "People would be calling in to [state committee] headquarters every week, absolutely enraged, threatening to leave the party because of some comments McCain made," Haney told me. "The guy has no core, his only principle is winning the presidency. He likes to call his campaign the 'straight talk express.' Well, down here we call it the 'forked tongue express.'"

Rank-and-file Republicans are disgruntled about McCain's support for campaign finance reform and gun control and his opposition to a federal ban on gay marriage. Conservative anger reached a boiling point in 2004 when McCain led the opposition to Prop 200, a state ballot measure restricting public services for undocumented immigrants. In the summer of 2005, months after Prop 200 succeeded with support from nearly 70 percent of GOP voters, Haney introduced a resolution in District 11 to censure McCain for "dereliction of his duties and responsibilities as a representative of the citizens of Arizona." After the resolution coasted through the district, it was introduced before the GOP committee of Maricopa County, Arizona's largest, encompassing Phoenix and Scottsdale (once home to Barry Goldwater).

At the time, McCain and his handlers were working to burnish his conservative credentials to win over wary Republican primary voters. The effort began with McCain's May 2006 graduation speech at Liberty University, a school founded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell, whom McCain had dubbed an "agent of intolerance" during his rancorous 2000 run for the presidency. His makeover continues on February 23, when he is scheduled to speak before the Discovery Institute, the right-wing think tank that has attempted to introduce into public school biology classes the teaching of Intelligent Design.

Although Arizona is somewhat off the national radar, Haney's resolution posed a threat to the McCain makeover. Apparently alarmed, the senator dispatched his chief of staff to the Maricopa County Republicans' meeting to warn against the resolution. At McCain's behest, Arizona's other GOP senator, Jon Kyl, sent his own chief of staff as well. But Haney's resolution passed by a nearly unanimous vote. "No one in the party structure would dare say anything about McCain and the grassroots was enraged, so I voiced their concerns," Haney said. "And McCain and the party establishment came down on me hard. They said, 'You're going to destroy his chances in the presidential campaign.'"

Not content to let the purely symbolic resolution stand, McCain recruited a slate of candidates to oust Haney and his allies in last November's state committee elections. McCain supporters formed a political action committee, Grassroots Arizona PAC, to bankroll this effort. Forty percent of Grassroots Arizona's funds were provided by two Democratic donors from San Francisco apparently enraptured with McCain and his "maverick" image, Gregory and Lisa Wendt, which added fuel to the flames of Haney's revolt. McCain's slate was formidable, including Fife Symington, a former Arizona governor coaxed out of retirement to come to the rescue of his old friend. So worried was McCain about being rebuked by his own party that he threw his own hat into the race, announcing that he would run for state committeeman.

When the votes were counted, McCain and his entire slate were resoundingly defeated. Despite endorsements from virtually every Republican member of Arizona's Congressional delegation, Symington, who had never lost a race in his life, was crushed--as was McCain. Adding insult to injury, in January another key McCain ally, Republican political consultant Lisa James, was defeated for state GOP committee chair by Randy Pullen, a prominent McCain critic and anti-immigrant activist who headed the campaign for Prop 200. James's defeat could complicate McCain's presidential ground game because she was to have used her position at the top of Arizona's Republican apparatus to secure the state's primary for McCain.    Entire Article

 

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I Million Iraqis To Flee Homes This Year

   The International Organization for Migration (IOM)  says that the ongoing violence and insecurity may lead as many as 1 million Iraqis to abandon their homes this year.

   IOM spokeswoman Jemini Pandaya said, "The numbers of people that are being displaced are increasing every day. The security situation is not improving. It's not changing."

   That means that some of our so called  European allies had better begin making plans to bring some of the displaced into their own countries to live instead of just the U.S. and one or two others.

 

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Iraq,Resolutions and Our Government

   It's been a busy week up in the Capitol. It has been for the House of Representatives anyway as they have spent the entire week debating and working on a resolution against Bush and his war plans.

   Did you know that Senator Joseph R. Biden, a Delaware Democrat who happens to lead the Foreign Relations Committee said the he is working on a repeal of the 2002 war authorization vote hoping to close down the war? 

   When the House resolution passes today, with bipartisan support,  it will be the first congressional message of disapproval over the war in Iraq.

Nancy Pelosi: “I don’t know that the president can completely ignore us. We are the voices of the American people. They were clear in the election that they wanted a new direction, no place more clear than in Iraq.”

   Then we have the Senate coming in on Saturday to do whatever it is that the Senate does which thus far hasn't been a whole lot.

  A Republican official having to work on a weekend day? I'll bet that just sent them all to the medicine cabinet when Sen. Harry Reid made that announcement. Must be a shock to the system when you're not even used to working five days a week yet!

   Got a few Democrats ( Biden, Reid, Murtha, Pelosi, Clinton ) carrying some big sticks this week. Now let us see if they can swing those things and get some results with them.

 

 

 

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State Legislators Come Up With Own Resolutions

  It would seem that some states are getting fed up with the Senate and the Congress over their inability to come up with and to pass a war resolution denouncing Bush and his escalation so the states are acting on their own under pressure from their constituents and advocacy groups.

                  More below

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   Resolutions have passed in chambers of three legislatures, in California, Iowa and Vermont. The Maryland General Assembly sent a letter to its Congressional delegation, signed by a majority of the State Senate and close to a majority of the House, urging opposition to the increase in troops in Iraq.

Letters or resolutions are being drafted in at least 19 other states. The goal is to embarrass Congress into passing its own resolution and to provide cover for Democrats and Republicans looking for concrete evidence back home that anti-Iraq resolutions enjoy popular support.

“The end of this war has to start sometime and somewhere,” the president of the Iowa Senate, John P. Kibbie, a Democrat, said Thursday. “And stopping the expansion of these troops needs to happen now.”

The activity was spurred in a conference call last month that included state legislators; Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts; and advocacy groups like the Progressive States Network and MoveOn.org.    NYTimes

 

Judge Charles S. Haight Jr Scales Back NYC Police Taping

In a rebuke of a surveillance practice greatly expanded by the New York Police Department after the Sept. 11 attacks, a federal judge ruled yesterday that the police must stop the routine videotaping of people at public gatherings unless there is an indication that unlawful activity may occur.    

The restrictions on videotaping do not apply to bridges, tunnels, airports, subways or street traffic, Judge Haight noted, but are meant to control police surveillance at events where people gather to exercise their rights under the First Amendment.   

“This was a major push by the corporation counsel to say that the guidelines are nice but they’re yesterday’s news, and that the security establishment’s view of what is important trumps civil liberties,” Mr. Eisenstein said. “Judge Haight is saying that’s just not the way we’re doing things in New York City.”   NYTimes

   Maybe we can start with NYC and move around to the rest of the country right up to the White House and wanna-be dictator George Bush and his side-kick Dick Cheney.

 

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Breakdown At The Iraq Lie Factory

From TomPaine.com

Robert Dreyfuss
February 15, 2007

Robert Dreyfuss is an Alexandria, Va.-based writer specializing in politics and national security issues. He is the author of Devil's Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam (Henry Holt/Metropolitan Books, 2005), a contributing editor at The Nation and a writer for Mother Jones, The American Prospect and  Rolling Stone. He can be reached through his website, www.robertdreyfuss.com.

It was, President Bush must have been thinking, a heck of a lot easier five years ago. Back in 2002, the president had a smoothly running lie factory humming along in the Pentagon, producing reams of fake intelligence about Iraq, led by Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Doug Feith and his Office of Special Plans. Back then, he had a tightly knit cabal of neoconservatives, led by I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, based in Vice President Dick Cheney’s office, to carry out a coordinated effort to distribute the lies to the media. And he had a chorus of yes-men in the Republican-controlled Congress ready to echo the party line.

In 2007, Bush stands nearly alone, and he never looked lonelier than during a bumbling, awkward news conference on the Iraq-Iran tangle Wednesday.

There is, of course, no basis for arguing that the civil war in Iraq is caused by Iran. And there is no basis—“not supported by underlying intelligence,” as the Pentagon I.G. said about Doug Feith’s 2002 work—to argue that Iran is responsible for a significant part of American deaths in Iraq. Nearly all of the U.S. casualties in Iraq are caused by the secular-Baathist Sunni-led resistance and religious Sunni extremists fighting the occupation, and none of the forces allied with the resistance have ties to Iran. Even the anonymous briefers at the dog-and-camel show in Baghdad admitted that Iran is helping the Shiite militias, not the Sunnis; in other words, Iran is helping the self-same militias that are being trained and armed by the United States.

And the spurious claim that 170 Americans have died in attacks using Iranian-supplied super-IED’s since 2004 can only mean one thing: that the Pentagon is counting the numbers of U.S. soldiers and Marines who died in April and August, 2004. That was when the United States waged two mini-wars against Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army. It was the only time in the past four years when the United States suffered significant casualties fighting the Shiites—though the administration presented zero evidence that Sadr’s Mahdi Army gets weapons from Iran, or needs to. But if they’re counting as far back as 2004—and, according to the Pentagon, the super-IED’s started showing up in 2004—then the whole issue is absurd, since what happened three years ago has little or no relevance to current conditions.

Those prone to believe, along with the president, that Iran is fomenting the violence in Iraq have already drunk deep of the neocon Kool-Aid. The rest of us can only shake our heads in wonder that the president thinks he can get away with this.

 

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Thursday, February 15, 2007

Peanut Butter Recalled Because Of Possible Salmonella Outbreak

    You know what the worst news was today?

    Peanut butter getting pulled from the shelves in some states because of a suspected salmonella outbreak in some 39 states! WTF!

   Of all brands it would have to be my favorite one, Peter Pan. Salmonella from peanut butter has got to be a first.

    I'll blame this on Bush also when I can find a way to make it sound good.

Charlotte Observer

Four out of 15 possible cases in North Carolina are in the Charlotte region, one each in Mecklenburg, Union, Iredell and Catawba counties, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. The cases are scattered across the state, and no one has died, the agency said. The age range of patients ranged from 1 to 76 years old.

Matthews-based Harris Teeter pulled all Peter Pan peanut butter products from its shelves until further notice because of a federal investigation of possible salmonella contamination, spokeswoman Jennifer Panetta said. The warning covers Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter jars with the product code on the lid beginning with the numbers "2111."

Great Value is the house brand for Wal-Mart.

 

 

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Bill Clinton's Popularity On The Rise

   Remember back when Ken Starr and the Republican buttheads spent something like $70 million or so just on a messy dress to get something on Bill Clinton?

   It would seem that as of late, Mr. Clinton's popularity is going up with him being even more popular than his wife, which is no surprise.

    More below

 

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   TruthDig

Gallup News Service:

More than 6 in 10 Americans say they have a favorable opinion of former President Bill Clinton, according to a recent Gallup Poll. Clinton’s favorable rating is up slightly from last summer, and is at its highest level since February 1998. His favorable rating reached historical lows in 2001 as Clinton sparked many controversies as he left office. But since that time, Clinton’s favorable rating has gradually improved and is now close to his historical high, a 66% rating just prior to his inauguration in 1993. A comparison of Bill Clinton’s favorable ratings and Hillary Clinton’s favorable ratings show that Americans rated the Clinton's similarly following their departure from the White House, but in recent years, the former president has been viewed more favorably than his wife.

 

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FBI Investigating Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons

Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons, a Republican, is being investigated by the FBI  for not reporting gifts or payments that he got from a software company which in turn got some military contracts when Gibbons was in congress.

The FBI confirmed the probe on Thursday. they are looking into what kind of a role Gibbons may have had in the contracts being awarded to eTreppid Technologies LLC. which has an interesting website.

   I went to check the company out and all you get is the first page and nothing else. you get a phone number to call if you want more info.

   Anyway, gibbons has of course denied any wrongdoing and as of yet the FBI hasn't filed any charges. Gibbons and the company in question's owner are known to be close so my money is on ' guilty.'

   More follows below

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NYTimes

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that new evidence had emerged in a lawsuit in Reno, including e-mails to Trepp discussing a payment or gifts to then-Rep. Gibbons. The e-mails also show Gibbons using his congressional office to help the company seek classified military and civilian contracts, the newspaper said.

''Please don't forget to bring the money you promised Jim and Dawn,'' Trepp's wife, Jale Trepp, said in a March 22, 2005, e-mail days before Trepp and his wife embarked on the Caribbean cruise with Jim Gibbons and his wife, Dawn, a former Nevada state assemblywoman.

According to the Journal, Trepp responded minutes later saying: ''Don't you ever send this kind of message to me! Erase this message from your computer right now!''

 

Former NC House Speaker Pleads Guilty

 Charlotte Observer

RALEIGH | Former House Speaker Jim Black pleaded guilty Thursday afternoon to accepting $25,000 in illegal cash payments between February 2002 and December 2005 from chiropractors in exchange for pushing legislation they sought.

        Now if they would just throw his sorry ass into prison and be done with him.

 

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Tony Snow Thinks nothing Went Wrong With Iraq

   You just have to love a press briefing with Tony Snow! I now know why the Bush Crime Family picked this idiot to be their mouthpiece to the press. It had to be for the comic relief!

   At the briefing today:

The White House

Q Slides from a pre-war briefing show that by this point, the U.S. expected that the Iraqi army would be able to stabilize the country and there would be as few as 5,000 U.S. troops there. What went wrong?

MR. SNOW: I'm not sure anything went wrong. At the beginning of the Civil War, people thought it would all be over at Manassas. It is very difficult -- no, Jessica, the fact is, a war is a big, complex thing. And what you're talking about is a 2002 assessment. We're now in the year 2007, and it is well-known by anybody who has studied any war that war plans immediately become moot upon the first contact with the enemy.

Q But this estimate was monumentally wrong. So would the President, knowing what he knows today, still have decided to go into Iraq?

MR. SNOW: Yes. The President believes that we did the right thing in going into Iraq. The question is, should you saddle any military planner with an expectation that they're going to have perfect insight into what happens five years later? Aand the answer is, of course not. And I think if you talk to military planners, they do their very best under a situation. As you know, many reporters who were in the field then probably had different views about how things might be today.

Q Tony, the President has said repeatedly that he is not satisfied with the situation in Iraq. Given those numbers he outlined today in Afghanistan -- the number of roadside bombs doubled, direct attacks increased three times, suicide bombs increased five-fold -- is he satisfied with the situation in Afghanistan?

What the President understands is that groups, like the Taliban and al Qaeda, are going to do whatever they can. They're going to do their best to use terror as a way of preventing democracy from flourishing in Afghanistan and Iraq. And it is the commitment of allies in both countries, along with the host government, and increasingly -- again, you heard today, building greater capacity on the part of the host government, to make sure that they've got the ability, ultimately, to stand on their own.

 

 

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Reid Is Pissed At Senate Republicans and the Vote Is On Saturday!

   Just a little bit more on Senator Harry Reid's rebuke to the GOP and the upcoming Saturday vote, from IraqSlogger:

Reid Loses Patience With Senate Republicans
Announces Saturday Vote on Iraq Resolution
By CHRISTINA DAVIDSON
    Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) has given up trying to convince Senate Republicans to allow a floor debate on pending resolutions supporting and/or condemning President Bush's surge plan.

Opting for the path of least resistance, and expecting the non-binding resolution currently under discussion in the House will pass with ease, Reid is moving to schedule an up-or-down vote on the ten lines that voices support for troops, but not for Bush's proposed surge.

If they do want to prevent the spectacle of U.S. senators lambasting the President during scheduled debate times for the proposal, Republicans will have to again request a 60-vote majority for passage of the measure. Though McConnell could attempt the move again, he would most likely face the prospect of more potential defectors than last week.

In a statement just released, Reid says:

"For nearly four years, the Republican-controlled Senate stood silent on the President's flawed Iraq policies and watched as the situation deteriorated into a civil war. The American people have chosen to change course. Democrats have chosen to change course. Unfortunately, Senate Republicans have chosen obstruction. Almost every Republican who expressed concern about the escalation chose to block the Senate from debating the issue.

"Today, Democrats offered Republicans another chance for compromise, suggesting the Senate debate one resolution in favor of escalation and one resolution opposed to escalation. Once again, Senate Republicans refused.

"Democrats are determined to give our troops and the American people the debate they deserve, so the Senate will have another Iraq vote this Saturday. We will move for a clear up or down vote on the House resolution which simply calls on Congress to support the troops and opposes the escalation.

"Those Republicans who have expressed their concern over the Senate's failure to debate the war in Iraq will have another opportunity to let their actions speak louder than their words."

 

Republicans Cry Foul Over Pelosi Blog

   Those idiot Republicans are at it again! Crying foul, that is.

   House Speaker Pelosi started a blog called The Gavel which has a load of Youtube videos on it covering the chambers proceedings and such so now the neo-nuts are bitching about copywrite infringement and a whole lot of other crap. The vid clips were from C-SPAN so I think that clips of the proceedings should be able to pass as fair use.

   This must be part of the GOP plan to change the subject from Iraq/Iran, to anything else.

   Here's a letter the Repugnicans shot out awhile ago.

Daily Kos

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Brad Dayspring (202) 225-3484

February 15, 2007

Speaker Pelosi's New Blog Violates C-SPAN Copyright/Trademark of House Proceedings
Will the Speaker bring the gavel down on "the Gavel Blog?"

As you may have heard, Speaker Nancy Pelosi launched a new blog entitled "The Gavel." Though we applaud the Speaker's effort to adapt to new technology, the blog violated copyright and trademark law on the very first day.

Not once, not twice, but 16 times?

As of noon today, the Speaker had posted at least 16 videos that are copyrighted
C-SPAN material from the House floor. The RSC spoke with C-SPAN today, who confirmed that these videos violate C-SPAN copyright/trademark of the House proceedings.

Using C-Span for partisan purposes?

In addition to using pirated material, Speaker Pelosi also has used the pirated C-SPAN footage for partisan purposes. The collection of C-SPAN footage used in her "first official blog" is an example and the other pirated C-SPAN trademarked material shows Democrat after Democrat offering their views of the non-binding Democrat resolution on the reinforcement and realignment of American troops in Iraq.

So, what does Speaker Pelosi believe the role of C-SPAN is?

"One of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's first decisions was to deny a request by C-SPAN to be permitted to cover the House floor proceedings with its own cameras. Last month, Pelosi sent a letter to C-SPAN Chairman and CEO Brian Lamb saying she believed "the dignity and decorum" of the House "are best preserved by maintaining the current system of televised proceedings."

(CQ Weekly, January 15, 2007, Page 169)

Is the dignity and decorum of the House preserved by pirating copyrighted C-SPAN material for political purposes?

If not, will the Speaker bring the gavel down on "the Gavel Blog?"

###

Brad Dayspring
Communications Director
Republican Study Committee
(202) 225-3484
AIM: BDDACE2
www.house.gov/hensarling/rsc

Update:The morons at the RSC have retracted their press release. It was too frackin stupid even for them.

Also, Stoller has more. Turns out that floor proceedings are public domain, but committee hearings are not. Thus, C-SPAN claims ownership of the Alito hearings for the next 100 years. That's unconscionable and must end.

 

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Senate Vote on House Iraq Resolution May Force Debate

    From Daily Kos we get this good news!

Senate Vote on House Iraq Resolution May Force Debate
by SusanG
Thu Feb 15, 2007

Nice move, Senator Reid:

Reid Schedules Saturday Vote on House's Iraq Resolution

Senate Democratic leaders abruptly switched course in the Iraq war debate today, shelving a complicated non-binding resolution that has run into procedural hurdles, in favor of a House version that simply states Congress's objections to President Bush's troop escalation plan.

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) this afternoon announced that the Senate would take a rare Saturday vote on whether to consider the House resolution, which is expected to pass that chamber Friday, with some Republican support.

If the Saturday vote succeeds, Reid said he may cancel the upcoming week-long recess, scrambling campaign plans for at least six presidential candidates.

Just look at how that week will be spent if the Saturday vote succeeds:

"We are determined to give our troops and the American people the debate they deserve," Reid said.

In particular, Democrats are calling the bluff of a group of Republican senators who oppose the escalation, but who joined with their GOP leadership to block the earlier Democratic-led resolution from coming to a vote, in an effort to force Democrats to allow a pro-administration measure to be offered.

The Republicans must be scrambling around in a panic at this news. Remember, just two short days ago they were circulating a "Dear Colleague" letter among themselves that clearly stated:

If we let Democrats force us into a debate on the surge or the current situation in Iraq, we lose.

Is this where we say, "Bring it on?"

 

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House Speaker Pelosi Tells Bush No Iran Invasion Without Congress Saying 'Yes'

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said today that Mr. Bush does not have the authority to invade Iran without the okay from Congress to do so just one day before the Congress is to vote on a resolution  condemning Bush's  troop escalation in Iraq.    More Below

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AP  At the same time, she said, "I do believe that Congress should assert itself, though, and make it very clear that there is no previous authority for the president, any president, to go into Iran."

Bush has asked Congress to approve $100 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Congressional Democrats are hoping to insert provisions that would make it harder for the administration to follow through on its plan to deploy an additional 21,500 combat troops to Iraq.

Murtha also said the measure may be changed to prohibit any military action against Iran without specific congressional approval.

Asked about Murtha's remarks, Pelosi said, "I fully support that." She added that she would propose it as stand-alone legislation if it is not included in the bill that provides more money for the Iraq war.

Bush has said he intends to go ahead with the troop buildup regardless of nonbinding expressions of disapproval in Congress.

But, Pelosi said, "I don't think that the president can completely ignore it."

     Of course, some of the GOP (   Rep. Sam Johnson,   Rep. Geoff Davis )  used the usual, the resolution will hurt the troops moral and will embolden the enemy and that bullshit.

   It must be tough going to be a political party with no vision or common sense for that matter. Thankfully, there are a few Republicans who have come to their senses and have seen this war for what it really is.

 

Housing Boom Went Bust In 40 States

   Bush's booming economy isn't booming to well in quite a few housing markets it would seem.

   Home sales fell in 40 states in the last three months of 2006 according to the National Association of Realtors.

National Association of Realtors: ...states with the biggest declines in sales from October through December compared with the same period in 2005 were: Nevada, down 36.1 percent; Florida, down 30.8 percent; Arizona, down 26.9 percent; and California, down 21.3 percent.

In all, the Realtors said sales declined in 40 states, six states showed gains and one state, Utah, had no change in activity in the final three months of last year. There was not enough information from Idaho, New Hampshire and Vermont to make a comparison.

 

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A Look At 9/11 and Conspiracy Theories

BBC

 

Mike Rudin

9/11 questions

Lots of questions have been raised about 9/11:

Why was the hole in the Pentagon wall so small and why was there so little damage to the outer wall?

Why does it look like there is no plane at the crash site in Pennsylvania where flight United 93 came down?

Why did a building called World Trade Centre Building 7 collapse even though it was never hit by an aircraft?

And why was America so unprepared when terror attack warnings had been received?

Through the internet and the media generally, allegations of complicity by the US government in the 9/11 attacks are intensifying.

We've just finished a new series called The Conspiracy Files which will start this Sunday on BBC Two at 9pm with a programme about 9/11.

We’ve talked to a number of the people who question the official version.

Dylan Avery, the 23-year-old film-maker behind the internet film Loose Change says the US government “will willingly kill its own citizens for whatever gain it seems necessary and then lie as much as they need to cover it up.”

Alex Jones, a Texan nationally syndicated radio talk show host, tells the programme “9/11 is an inside job… a false-flag terror operation.”

Jim Fetzer, former US marine and retired university professor, who helped found a coalition of academics called Scholars for 9/11 Truth repeats the Sherlock Holmes quotation “when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

There has been an official fightback of sorts.

President Bush is on record imploring people to reject conspiracy theories: “Let us never tolerate outrageous conspiracy theories concerning the attacks of September the 11th” which he said were “malicious lies that attempt to shift the blame away from the terrorists, themselves, away from the guilty.”

The US State Department has a website to debunk conspiracy theories – not just about 9/11 but a whole range of stories circulating on the internet.

But we found that simple requests, such as asking to see the plane wreckage of flight United 93 at Shanksville, or flight American Airlines 77 at the Pentagon, were refused after months of delay by the authorities.

Yet if we had been able to film the wreckage from flight AA77 we would have had extremely strong evidence that a Boeing 757 hit the Pentagon.

Trying to prove or disprove these alternative theories is not easy.

Officials are loathe to engage, thinking that any response will only fan the flames of popular conspiracy theories, and yet no response seems to be worse still.

9/11: The Conspiracy Files travels across the United States investigating the allegations and talking to witnesses wherever possible.

Ultimately you can’t beat speaking to eyewitnesses, such as the local coroner at Shanksville, Wally Miller.

Wally Miller tells the programme how comments he made about the wreckage at Shanksville have been misquoted on the internet by people who do not “take the trouble to come here and ask me about it.”

Miller is quoted as saying, “I stopped being coroner after about 20 minutes because there were no bodies there”; yet he also said it was perfectly clear that the manner of death was a plane crash, and the point he was trying to make was that it had become a large funeral service.

The Conspiracy Files also talked to Senator Bob Graham who co-chaired the Congressional Inquiry into 9/11 which detailed the failure of the CIA and FBI to use intelligence it had received about Al Qaeda before the attacks.

Senator Graham told us there was a “collaboration of efforts among agencies and the administration to keep information out of the public’s hands.”

“Within 9/11 there are too many secrets” adding that “withholding of those secrets has eroded public confidence’ in security”.

And crucially we may not have learned about that conspiracy without the questioning of every aspect of the official version.

Mike Rudin is series producer, The Conspiracy Files

 

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